Universal’s Quickly Canceled Show: Pandemonium Cartoon Circus

Splashing Through Toon Lagoon

On its opening day, Islands of Adventure was split up into six themed lands: Port of Entry, Seuss Landing, The Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and Marvel Superhero Island. Toon Lagoon brought the Sunday funnies to life with a host of nearly 80 classic characters.

Guests could get soaked to their funny bones on the land’s two signature attractions: Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges and Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Families could jape around the play area: Me Ship, The Olive.

The pathways of Comic Strip Lane were layered with silly soundscapes and visual gags, just like walking through the funny pages. About this land, Toon Lagoon’s show producer, Christopher Stapleton, said, “From the music to the special effects, we wanted you to feel like you’re in the melodrama.”

Toon Lagoon also had a streetmosphere show, the Toon Trolley, but this melodic land was perfect for a revue-style show.

That show was none other than Pandemonium Cartoon Circus.

The Circus Comes to Toon

On the edge of Toon Lagoon and the nearby Marvel Superhero Island sat a 2,000-seat open-air venue called the Toon Lagoon Amphitheater, though media outlets at the time referred to it as Pandemonium Amphitheater.

This venue had a tiered entrance plaza area with a topsy-turvy neon sign displaying the show’s name. The area was decorated with flat character displays, banners with acts from the show, a live ringmaster on stilts, and a sign with show times. The show’s stars, Rocky and Bullwinkle, were featured prominently by the show times. An instrumental medley of the show’s soundtrack played around the plaza.

Inside, the venue had red bleachers with a runway down the center. Colorful sun shades with a big top circus tent look hung along the edges among giant banners of acts from the show. Flashing lights of the show’s name were on display above the colorful stage.

Pandemonium Cartoon Circus had five performances per day, and the show went a little something like this.

What was the Show Like?

Pandemonium Cartoon Circus was a series of circus acts starring the residents of Toon Lagoon. Before the show started, Old Bill, the janitor from Mr. Peabody and Sherman, entertained the audience as they were getting seated. A small orchestral overture played, the characters chattered behind the curtains, and the show began. The music swelled into an upbeat fanfare as the lights flickered on, and the cartoon custodian sucked the grand drape into his vacuum, uncovering the grand circus set.

The janitor started singing the first number, The Circus is Coming to Toon: a showtunes-style song led by Popeye and Olive Oyl.

The Circus is Coming to Toon

The characters made their grand entrance one by one with their circus outfits. They all joined in on the singing and dancing, but their fun would quickly be foiled as villains Boris, Natasha, Snidley Whiplash, and Bluto crashed the circus and sang along. The song ended with a magic trick revealing Woody Woodpecker and the show’s ringmooster, Bullwinkle.

Following the song, the dastardly Boris and Natasha interrupted Rocky and Bullwinkle with a so-called gift for them that they’d get a bang out of. After a turn of events, Boris’ bomb—and his devious plan—blew up in his face. The dazed Boris stumbled off the stage, and the ringmooster ushered in the next act: Dudley Do-Right in Bury the Hatchet.

Bury the Hatchet

Dudley Do-Right and Nell Fenwick, now in colorful circus outfits, marched out to a majestic soundtrack for their axe-throwing stunt. As a part of the routine, Nell blindfolded Dudley. Their nemesis, Snidley Whiplash, took that opportunity to strap Nell to a spinning wheel of death, and Dudley was fooled into throwing hatchets at her. Nell escaped from the rotating table, but Snidley Whiplash kidnapped Nell to tie her on a railroad track.

As Dudley rushed to save Nell, Rocky and Bullwinkle came out with a magic trick gag and announced the next song: Funny Business.

Funny Business

This was one of the catchiest tunes in Pandemonium Cartoon Circus. The campy cast sang about the ins and outs of the funny business. The villains were a nuisance throughout the song: the big bad Bluto chased after Olive Oyl, Snidely Whiplash got roughed up by Nell Fenwick, and Natasha deviously leaked helium on the stage. All the singers squeaked with high-pitched voices until Broom-Hilda snapped them out of it.

The anthem ended on a high note as Snidley, Nell, and Dudley scuffled across the stage.

Rocky and Bullwinkle, who was spinning plates, introduced Betty Boop and her glamorous song: Star Stuck.

Star Stuck

A big band swing song kicked in, and Betty Boop descended from the rafters on a crescent moon aerial hoop. In a soigne fashion, she acrobatically swung around while belting out the beautiful ballad.

Down below, four Bimbo pups from the Betty Boop series climbed lampposts and did gymnastics to accompany the glittering number. Bubbles speckled the air, the dogs did backflips while howling in harmony, and Betty gave a quick “boop-oop-a-doop” as the curtains closed.

Once again, Snidley Whiplash ran onto the stage with Nell Fenwick. The winded Snidley stopped to catch his breath, and Dudley Do-Right caught up to do the same. Snidley ran off after hearing a train whistle, and Dudley followed.

Rocky and Bullwinkle set up the next act: Blondie and Dagwood, the Balancing Bumsteads.

The Balancing Bumsteads

Blondie and the klutzy Dagwood skated around the stage while Beetle Bailey and Zero fumbled around. Boris and Natasha butted into the show to catch Dagwood; Boris eventually punched him with a comically large boxing glove mechanism. The skit ended with all smiles.

Go, Popeye, Go

Led off by Rocky and a clumsy Bullwinkle, Olive Oyl performed the next act: a tightrope stunt.

Olive Oyl’s shaky knees were the least of her worries as Bluto showed up to resounding boos from the crowd. Bluto harassed Olive Oyl, but Popeye came to the rescue, flipping his way to Bluto. Popeye confronted his archenemy on the tightrope. Bluto lit a match and threw it underneath Popeye and the tightrope, causing a fire below. Olive Oyl turned up just in time to give Popeye a can of spinach to deliver the knockout punch that sent Bluto plummeting.

Popeye rescued Olive Oyl from the flaming tightrope. The cast celebrated, singing a song cheering on Popeye.

Just then, Snidley Whiplash finally found a set of train tracks to tie Nell up. He held Dudley Do-Right at gunpoint while Nell squirmed. Woody Woodpecker chugga-chugga-choo-chooed onto the stage with a little locomotive, but Dudley stopped it with his hand, saving Nell.

Even if this scene was a little anti-climatic and probably the victim of some budget cuts, the Toons got the last laugh.

Last Laugh

In jubilee, the characters sang a song called The Last Laugh. They showcased circus tricks like Spanish web routines and balancing on a rolling globe. The cast giggled their way through the chorus, and the curtains opened unveiling the show’s grand finale with spinning plates.

The villains interrupted the performance with a cartoon bomb. Old Bill hopped on the stage to clean up and—somehow, some way—was able to save the day with his vacuum as the cast swirled off the stage. Confetti fell, and the chaos continued into the song’s final note. The curtains closed on Pandemonium Cartoon Circus.

Old Bill swept the stage and thanked everyone one final time for coming. Guests had the opportunity after the show to take pictures with the characters.